The Migrant (Moving) Image | Chapter 2

The Migrant (Moving) Image

Chapter 2 – Transit: Centro di Permanenza Temporanea

4 December – 13 December 2015

Centro di Pemanenza Temporanea (literally Center for Temporary Permanence) is the Italian name for detention centers where refugees and illegal immigrants are kept, to be rejected to their country of origin. The name also refers to the contradictory state of being ‘permanently temporary’ and the pervasive insecurity and anxiety that comes with the need for incessant mobility. This chapter sheds light on the inescapable fact that contemporary life is marked by a permanent state of transition: on the one hand the smooth flow of data and communication, on the other hand the movement of smugglers, people and ‘goods’. Films in this chapter testify of the plight of those displaced by war, poverty or inequality and the – often futile – attempts to reach a destination, only to find oneself entrapped, it testifies of the paradoxical reality of a life caught between deportation and conflict, between a homeland and the land of your dreams.